1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to a controller or adapter for interfacing to an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) network, and more particularly, to an efficient mechanism for providing an enhanced interface for an ATM segmentation controller.
2. Description of Related Art
ATM is a digital switching protocol that has become a widely adopted standard in the past few years. Data transmission under the ATM protocol is cell-based via virtual circuits or connections, wherein the virtual connection is identified by data values contained within the cell. Data is transmitted between a source and destination by establishing virtual connections between a pair of ATM end-systems which are needed to connect a source with a destination. These connections are termed "virtual" to distinguish them from dedicated circuits. ATM cells always traverse the same path from source to destination. However, the ATM protocol does not have to reserve the path for one user exclusively. Any time a given virtual connection is not occupying a physical link, another virtual connection is free to use it.